Page 64 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

Amy was adorable. They all were. Mary had quite a strong Birmingham accent and yelled her lines at the top of her voice, grinning mischievously. One of the sheep ran into the audience to cuddle his gran, and then clambered back on the stage; one of the kings dropped her crown and ran after it as it bounced around the stage; and one of the shepherds yawned loudly as the Angel Gabriel did her speech, then sat down cross-legged, sucking his thumb. The audience laughed good-naturedly at these antics.

All in all, it was exactly the little bubble of cuteness that Jen had thought it would be, and she was so grateful to be there to see it that she felt like her chest was going to burst.

She had so nearly missed out on this. If it wasn’t for the snow enforcing her stay, if it wasn’t for Julia’s cold and Dan’s conference, she’d be back in her other life, in the flat, working at the bar. If it wasn’t for Ted, choosing Babblebrook for their reunion weekend.

She wouldn’t be sitting here now. She wouldn’t have made a snow family with the village children, she wouldn’t have seen them enjoying her craft activities at the café, she wouldn’t have read bedtime stories to her niece and nephew, and played with the train set with them, and made their gingerbread house. She wouldn’t have met Lottie. She wouldn’t have met Anthony.

‘Are you crying?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she said, surreptitiously wiping an eye. ‘Of course not.’

‘Aww,’ he said, smiling fondly and putting his arm around her shoulder to pull her in for a hug. ‘You’re a big softie at heart, aren’t you?’

She cleared her throat. ‘No, it’s just – bit dusty in here, that’s all.’

He nodded, smirking as he looked at her.

Once the applause was done, and everyone began shuffling out of their chairs, Anthony turned to her. ‘I was planning on taking you to dinner. Would that be OK?’

They were supposed to be having a special meal that night, to celebrate the play with Amy – all her favourites, spaghetti bolognaise and chocolate ice cream for pudding. But he looked so hopeful, she couldn’t turn him down. She’d promised Amy she’d be there. But she’d make it up to her another time; she’d take her to the café for an auntie–niece outing. It wasn’t like they’d known Jen was going to be in Babblebrook for this, after all; her being here for the nativity itself was a bonus.

‘That sounds great,’ she said. ‘I’ll just tell Julia.’

Julia hid her disappointment, which Jen assumed was on Amy’s behalf, fairly well. There was only a brief moment where her expression betrayed it.

‘Oh – OK,’ she said, nodding. ‘Have fun!’

Her smile was so bright Jen almost believed it.

‘I won’t be late,’ she said. ‘And I’ll still come to the tree decorating in the morning.’

The children had been talking about this for days; the decorating of the giant Christmas tree on the village green. It was a Babblebrook tradition, everyone came to help, and Jen had promised Amy and Lottie that she would take them.

Julia was nodding. ‘OK. No worries.’

A little guilt-worm squirmed in Jen’s stomach. But Anthony was here, he’d come to surprise her and take her for dinner, and it was so romantic that she couldn’t turn him down. She didn’t want to admit it, but part of her was also worried; if she didn’t go with him now, she didn’t know when she’d hear from him again, or see him again. He was here, now, asking to take her out. She couldn’t bring herself to let that chance go.

‘All sorted,’ she said, smiling, as she found him admiring the board with the poetry on.

‘Some of these are really good,’ he said. ‘Look! These are written by little kids.’

He sounded genuinely in awe.

‘That is a compliment, coming from a professional like you,’ she said. ‘I’ll have to let Ted know, he’ll be thrilled. You know, one of these days you’ll have to let me read some of your writing!’

He smiled. ‘Maybe.’

‘Today?’

He laughed. ‘We’ll see. Come on, let’s get you fed.’

Jen looked down at her outfit. ‘Don’t I need to get changed?’

He took a moment to look at her, a gentle smile playing on his lips. Then he kissed her softly. ‘You don’t need to change a single hair on your head.’

He put his arm around her waist, and Jen leaned in to him as they walked out of the hall and into the frosty evening, his words ringing through her and filling her with warmth. She willed everyone to see them as they walked down the village street; she wanted everyone to know that this gorgeous, glamorous man was here for her.

As she climbed into his car, her phone buzzed. It was Ted.